


Reflections of You

by Latios



Series: Intertwined Destinies [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, Kenma pines for him a lil bit, Kuroo dates a lot of ppl, Light Angst, M/M, Romance, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tattoos, There's none of their teammates in this fic i am sorry, literally none, this is a crime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-10 08:14:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5578100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Latios/pseuds/Latios
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once he pieces together why it looked so damn familiar--that’s when he felt anxiety creep up his spine, mixed with many other emotions. Like Denial. Because he knew exactly who had the matching mark, and he didn’t need much confirmation.</p><p>It was a small black cat silhouette, turned to the facing the left with its tail curled under it, black as the inky sky.</p><p>Just like the one Kuroo had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reflections of You

He doesn’t really remember a time in his life when Kuroo wasn’t there.

His earliest memory of Kuroo is when he’s clutching tightly at the back of his mother’s skirt as he hides behind her in the doorway, their new neighbours just outside the door and introducing themselves.

He doesn’t look past her until his mother and the woman from across the street are near done talking, and when he does, his mother decides it’s a key moment to introduce him. 

“And this is my son, Kenma. Say hi, sweetie!”

He doesn’t say hi, but nods at them, and the parents gush about him for a few moments. But Kenma doesn’t hear any of that, because he’s a little distracted by the other boy across from him who’s just a bit taller than him with a head full of crazy black hair and staring his way with a big smile.

~

They click together like best friends within ten minutes of talking to each other.

Of course, Kenma doesn’t actually talk to him first. It’s been a week since the new neighbours moved in, and he’s minded his own business, as usual. He was only going for a walk outside because his mother wanted him to stop playing those silly video games--when it hit him.

Literally smacked him in the face.

A volleyball rolls away past his shoes, and he doesn’t feel the pain yet, but he clutches the bridge of his nose, anyway. He’s only finished checking his hands for signs of blood when he hears the pitter patter of feet smacking gravel and suddenly when he looks up, the wild haired boy from next door is in front of him, volleyball in hand and looking slightly alarmed. 

“Are you okay? Man, that looked like it hurt, I’m super sorry.” He’s smiling now, but it’s an awkward “I-hope-you-don’t-start-crying” look, and he hovers nervously in front of Kenma, not sure what he should be doing.

“It’s okay.” Kenma replies, clutching his nose. At least now he had an excuse to go back inside and play his game again. His mom surely wouldn’t send him back outside with a purple bruise forming on his entire nose. He just had to wait a few minutes.

“You sure? I was a little scared there. I’m glad you’re okay, though!” and suddenly all formalities are aside, and he throws his hand out, palms stretched wide. “I’m Kuroo, nice to meet you!” 

Kenma warily eyes the hand, looking back up to Kuroo’s eyes for a moment. He grabs the hand with a light shake, and shyly nods, mumbling, “I’m Kenma. Nice to meet you too.”

Kuroo’s doesn’t stop smiling, and invites him to play.

Kenma accepts, for some reason. 

~

They learn about soulmate marks a few years later. _Marks that left a hint on your skin to lead you to your true love,_ they all say. He doesn’t really pay it much mind, (his game is much more interesting) but Kuroo brings it up after hearing all the fuss about it in class.

“Aren’t you excited to get yours?” Kuroo asks when they’re tossing a volleyball to each other outside one day, and Kenma squints at the other as he catches the ball.

“Get what?”

“Your soulmate mark. Duh. Everyone’s excited to get them. I heard there’s one girl in class three who already got hers.”

“Oh.” 

“So? What do you think?”

Kenma shrugs. He doesn’t really have an opinion on the subject, really. “It’s ok, I guess. It’s not like im eagerly waiting for it to show.”

“No?” Kuroo raises an eyebrow. 

“Not really.”

“You’re funny--most people want to get theirs as soon as possible.” His smile melts into a genuine one. “But I guess you’ve never been like most people, I guess. That’s what I like about you!”

It’s brutally honest--just like Kuroo always is--and Kenma ignores the weird heat on his face. “Let’s just get back to playing volleyball, okay?” He grunts, tossing the ball back with a little more force than necessary.

“Of course,” Kuroo laughs. 

~

Kuroo comes over one night in their first year of junior high, a smile pulling wide on his cheeks as he makes his way into Kenma’s room at 2:35am on a school night--through the window, no less. He plops down on the beside Kenma--Who was wide awake and seemed unfazed by Kuroo’s presence, still too deep in his game to notice much else.

“Put that away for a sec, will you?” Kuroo asks in a too enthusiastic tone, no accompanied by a groan like usual. “Or just--shine the light this way, I want to show you something.”

He grabs Kenma’s wrists and Kenma obliges, letting Kuroo tilt his hand to the desired position, making the light from the psp screen highlight the side of Kuroo’s neck, where a calico cat silhouette stood proudly, tail warping into a curl just under it. Kuroo’s hair stood up instead of laying flat, so it’s not like it’d be well hidden anyway, even if he didn’t shine light on it. Kenma’s speechless for the most part. He wasn’t expecting _that_ of all things.

“Isn’t it cool? My neck felt itchy so I went to the bathroom to look in the mirror, and voila--I finally got my mark!”

Kenma subconsciously traces it with his finger, which only makes Kuroo’s grin grow wider. He pulls back once he realises what he’s doing, but his gaze still lingers. just under Kuroo’s ear.

When did you find out?”

“About 5 minutes ago.”

Kenma rolls his eyes. “You should go back to sleep, Kuroo. You can brag to everyone about it tomorrow.”

Kuroo scoots farther in his bed, pulling the sheets up around him, and Kenma moves to give him room, turning towards the wall just as Kuroo puts his chin on Kenma’s shoulder from behind, watching the screen from there.

“I’ll go to bed only if you do.”

Kenma groans. “One more level.”

Kuroo tugs him closer, and gets comfortable. “Fine. But only one. You need more sleep for practice, tomorrow.”

They end up playing much more than one more level, and Kenma ends up falling asleep just after Kuroo, passing out unexpectedly and dropping his console on the bed.

Kenma’s mother finds them both curled around each other when she goes to wake her son up for school, and just shakes her head with a smile, exciting the room to prepare for breakfast for three people instead of two.

~

“Bokuto finally got his mark,” Kuroo smirks, sitting on top of the desk next to Kenma, watching the screen of his psp from afar. “It’s a volleyball. Super vague--but I told him to join the club, although he didn’t seem too keen on the idea at first.” Kuroo snickers. “And get this--he didn’t even _know_ he had one. I’m gonna see how long it’ll take him to notice.” 

“It’s Bokuto, He’ll never find it.” Kenma replies with a sigh, trying not to mention how predictable that was for him, as he places the psp screen-down onto the desk after he loses the race in his game for the fifth time. Kuroo’s eyes flicker down at the dull thud of the psp hitting against wood.

“That’s true--Hey, What happened to your hand?” Kuroo asks, sounding suddenly serious, as he slips off the desk and crouches beside Kenma, whose hand was wrapped tightly in cloth and held with a pin.

He goes to grab at it, but Kenma just shoves his hand in his pockets, looking away as Kuroo dropped his hands, waiting for an answer. 

“It’s nothing,” _just my soulmate mark, is all._ “I just nicked it on a wall on my way out of the house this morning.”

Kuroo looks at him quizzically, but doesn’t ponder long before he’s moving onto the next subject, going back again to how silly Bokuto was, and what they did on the weekend. It all passes through one ear and out the other for Kenma today. He just feels awkward--especially since he already knows who his soulmate is. 

It’s made him restless all morning; Waking up with a mark suddenly on his skin, but once he pieces together why it looked so damn familiar--that’s when he felt anxiety creep up his spine, mixed with many other emotions. Like Denial. Because he knew exactly who had the matching mark, and he didn’t need much confirmation.

It was a small black cat silhouette, turned to the facing the left with its tail curled under it, black as the inky sky.

Just like the one Kuroo had.

Of course, he knew Kuroo’s was slightly different. He’s seen it a billion times, but he’d recognize the same shape anywhere--the only difference was it was reversed and in different colours. It gave him mixed feelings, and he didn’t really know what to think. Not _yet_ anyway.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Kenma?” Kuroo asks, bumping his elbow up against Kenma’s arm. “You’re kind of out of it today. You’re not even playing your game. Did something happen?”

“No,” Kenma sighs. “Everything’s fine.”

He only hopes it’ll stay true to that.

~  
Kenma wishes Kuroo would just grow out his hair or something.

It’s in a painfully obvious place, his mark--even Kenma’s mom knows what it looks like, and has teased him a time or two about any love interests suddenly appearing in his life, or if he knows who it is.

Which of course, means Kenma can’t exactly waltz around his own home without the any covering of some sort, either, in fear of what his mother would think. She wasn’t stupid, and would catch onto it, he was certain.

So he hides it with bandages and patches and wraps for the remainder of his eighth year of school, and finally has time to breath when Kuroo graduates to high school.

“I’ve chosen Nekoma,” He mentions one day, when they’re sitting on beanbag chairs in Kuroo’s room, just lounging around. They aren’t even on separate beanbags. Kuroo is casually resting his chin over Kenma’s shoulder, chest in the back of the beanbag with his arms around Kenma’s waist. It’s ‘Most comfortable,’ He claims, and Kenma just lets him be.

“Good for you.”

“Will you come there next year with me?” He asks, arms tightening around his stomach, sounding uncertain, himself. “I can show you around, and oh, there’s such a big gymnasium. You can join the volleyball club with me again, too!”

He doesn’t pause his game, but thinks it over as he finally beats the boss stage, rewards and experience going up. Kuroo says nothing, but gulps anxiously next to Kenma’s ear. “...So what do you think?”

“Maybe.” He says after a moment. He’d be a lot more comfortable with Kuroo, and keeping it the same as always. They could walk together to school and back, and it would give Kenma someone to hang out with at lunch. 

But it also brings up the fact that he might be getting a little more than too attached, and what if Kuroo makes new friends and wants to hang out with them instead? It’s not the best idea to base his education choices on where to go to for a _friend_. He’ll have to hide his mark for three years longer, just for the sake of preserving their friendship, and what then? He’ll probably get a girlfriend or something--

“Please?” Kuroo asks, and Kenma can feel the grin pressing into his shoulder.

Suddenly all his thoughts go blank, and he heaves a reluctant sigh. “...Fine.” and just like that, he’s signed up for more years of trouble..

~

Kuroo is popular in his first year of high school.

It’s not a new thing, really. He always stood out, always took the spotlight. He was tall, handsome, and smart. It would take an idiot not to see that.

But this was at a whole new level, with girls suddenly flocking to him from different middle schools than they attended. It was just the start of it, too, Kenma knew. It was the time that everyone was starting to take interest in others, starting to get crushes and confess and leave letters and chocolates in lockers before class. 

What’s worse is that he only saw Kuroo before and after school, meaning he was viewing a small portion of what really went on throughout the day regarding the flock of fangirls he brought. 

With Kuroo in high school and him still in junior high, he figures it’s only a matter of time before they end up separating into new groups for good, before Kuroo only hangs out with his new friends and Kenma ends up by himself again.

He brings it up when he’s walking home with Kuroo one day, when they had just waved goodbye to a bunch of people Kenma didn’t know the names of from Nekoma.

It’s silent until Kenma speaks, interrupting Kuroo’s light humming.

“You’re allowed to go walk home with them, you know.” Kenma says, deadpan as always, but the way Kuroo looks at him tells Kenma he caught on to what he really meant.

_You don’t have to stick by me if you don’t want to._

Kuroo stops, and Kenma blinks up at him. 

“What?”

Kuroo shakes his head, pulling his backpack strap up higher on his shoulder, but there’s a small  
smile playing on his features as he shakes his head.

“Nah, I’m good.” He snorts. “They’re nice, but they’re not you. You’ll always be the one I walk home with.” He rubs a hand through Kenma’s hair, who shudders at the contact. “And stop saying things like that, Okay? I’m here to stay. Sorry, not sorry.” He starts humming again at the end, but there’s a slightly scolding underline to his tone, but Kenma knows _he_ knows it’s exactly what Kenma needed to hear.

“Lucky me,” He deadpans, walking ahead.

“ _Kenmaaaa, _” Kuroo groans, slinging an arm around his shoulders. Kenma shies away, but doesn’t push him off, feeling the warm breath on his face from Kuroo being _too damn close_. “I say nice things to you, and this is how you repay me?” He whines.__

He doesn’t reply, but can’t deny the minuscule smile pulling at his cheeks.

He stops worrying, if only for a little while.

~

“I got a girlfriend,” Kuroo singsongs as he enters Kenma’s bedroom, practically skipping over just to flop face first on the bed beside Kenma, who doesn’t flinch at being practically _hurled_ into the air just from Kuroo’s weight. “Who?” He asks, deadpan as ever. His stomach ties into knots and vaguely hurts, like he’s eaten too much sour candy, but he tries not to focus on that. It’s not like it’s the first girlfriend he’s got since High school started. 

“Her name is Chiyo. She’s really cute.” He mutters into the sheets, turning up to grin at Kenma by the end of the sentence. “She’s super short, and has long brown hair. I think you’ve seen her with me a couple of times,” he hums, getting into a sitting posture and crawling beside Kenma to watch him play his game.

__Kenma thinks for a moment, but it comes to him quickly. He did remember her after all. She was pretty--a little bit taller than him, maybe by an inch or two. She was always nice to him whenever they met at the gates of Nekoma, when he was waiting for Kuroo to walk home with him._ _

“ _Ah._ The one who always puts different ribbons in her hair every day?” He clarifies.

__“Yeah! She asked me out today, and we’re going on a date this weekend to go do karaoke with a few of her friends. Want to come?”_ _

__Kenma snorts. “No thanks. Have fun singing, though.”_ _

“I bet you have a great singing voice, though.” Kuroo nudges him, making his car spin _right off the track_ and he nudges Kuroo back even harder in the ribs, irritated. 

__“I can assure you I have nothing of the sort.” For added supportive measure, he adds, “Tell me how it goes, though.”_ _

__“Will do,” Kuroo hums, getting comfortable._ _

__She doesn’t become a conversation topic again. Even when Kenma asks what happened in the date a few weeks later, Kuroo only responds with, “We didn’t click,” and drops it at that. Kenma doesn’t try bringing it up again. It didn’t sound like a painful subject, but he figured it’s better not to press it._ _

__He’s a little disappointed in himself, actually--He didn’t know whether to be happy or sad that they didn’t work out after all._ _

__~_ _

__“So where’s your soulmate mark?” Kuroo asks one day near the end of the school year when they’re playing volleyball outside in the cold, just passing it back and forth, because Kuroo got antsy if he wasn’t practicing in too long a while._ _

__“Don’t have it yet,” Kenma replies, shrugging and receiving the ball gracefully, Fetching it to toss back to Kuroo again._ _

“Don’t lie to me,” he scolds, receiving the ball but not tossing it back, which meant he wanted to _talk_ instead. “I know you have one--It’s almost the end of school. Most people get them when they’re eleven years old.” 

__“You once told me I’m not like most people,” Kenma says, not directly meeting his gaze._ _

__“You don’t have to lie to me, Kenma,” he huffs, and looks mildly disappointed. It wouldn’t usually bother Kenma that he’s pouting--especially when most of the time, he’s faking it--but he probably owes Kuroo some sort of explanation, lest he get curious._ _

__A deep sigh makes it’s way out of his lungs, puffing out in a cloud with the cold winter-spring air. “I do have one, I just don’t feel like showing it that much…”_ _

__Kuroo noticeably brightens, but also sends an annoyed look Kenma’s way. “I showed you mine, though!”_ _

__He can’t really argue with that, but, “I just...Don’t want to show it, okay? Even my mom hasn't seen it… Nobody has.”_ _

Kuroo grins. Kenma almost thinks he’s going to say something genuine, something with feeling or showing understanding, but then he remembers it’s _Kuroo_ he’s dealing with. 

__“Is it in an inappropriate place?”_ _

__“Kuroo.”_ _

__“Ohoho, so it is? Or maybe it’s something else you’re embarrassed about?”_ _

“ _Kuroo._ ” 

__He laughs, and Kenma blushes up to his ears, making a snowball with some of the melted slush on the ground to throw at him. He blocks the snow with his hands, laughing all the more loud and obnoxious._ _

__“Okay, Okay! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it!”_ _

__“Is it really that weird to cover up your soulmate mark?” Kenma asks, quieting Kuroo in less than a second with the suddenly serious tone he spoke in. “It’s not that unheard of as far as I know, and I’ve heard of lots of people doing it before. Soulmate marks aren’t something everyone wants to share publicly, right?”_ _

Kuroo gives him a strange smile. “...I guess so. It’s not _unheard_ of, as you put it. Soulmate marks can be pretty personal to some people.” He shrugs. A moment passes, before he coughs to clear his throat. “But Kenma, can you promise me something?” 

__“What is it,” Kenma says, resigned._ _

__“That you’ll show me eventually? I mean, not right now, but sometime in the future.” he asks, sounding oddly hopeful._ _

Kenma shrugs. “Sure.” _But you won’t be seeing it for a while,_ he guiltily thinks. At least not until after high school, if he has any choice in it. He’d rather be able to avoid him if it came to it, and school would be a big preventing factor in his plan if he needed to escape seeing Kuroo. 

“Then fine. I’ll let you keep it secret. _For now._ ” He says, raising his eyebrows at Kenma.

__“It’s my choice anyway,” Kenma rolls his eyes._ _

__They make their way to Kenma’s house--it’s far too cold to be outside any longer--and Kuroo stops at doorstep, only to say, “I mean, if it’s in an inappropriate place, I totally understand for you wanting to cover it, anyway--”_ _

__Kenma locks him out._ _

__~_ _

__A few things change once he gets in high school._ _

__For one, he bleaches his hair._ _

__It’s just a small change in appearance over the summer break, mid-way through the year; a bleaching all the way to his roots. Kuroo seems shocked about the whole ordeal._ _

__“I thought you Didn’t want to attract attention,” He had asked with a snort one day, bumping shoulders with Kenma after he had stopped staring at his hair with wide eyes._ _

__He didn’t really have a reply to that. Maybe he just wanted to feel less invisible to people. Maybe he wanted to keep Kuroo’s attention on him. He’s wasn’t really sure. Still isn’t._ _

__Two. He Joins the volleyball club in highschool, much to his own surprise. He’s pretty sure it’s 80% because of Kuroo’s influence, or wanting to not disappoint him. But here he is, and he’s still not totally sure how he feels about it, especially when all the club seems to be is the third years telling him what to do and cleaning the gym after practice._ _

__Three. Kuroo gets another girlfriend._ _

__It’s not just _a_ girlfriend, though. It’s not like it was before when Kuroo dated in his first year of high school, or late middle school or anything like that._ _

__This girl claims to be his soulmate._ _

When Kuroo tells him, he doesn’t exactly know what to say at first. He’s mostly reeling back in shock because _what, why,_ and _how_ on earth did they get to that conclusion?

__He mostly feels annoyed when he’s told, after getting over the initial shock, and waits patiently for Kuroo to tell the rest of story, patiently. Well--as patiently as he can, anyway. He doesn’t snap, at least. He’s mostly silent when Kuroo explains._ _

__“So earlier today I was walking to school by myself--since you were sick today--and this girl was calling for help. It was the most cliche scenario, but her cat was actually stuck up a tree, can you believe that?”_ _

__He can, he just doesn’t want to. Kuroo continues._ _

__“--So then when I saved her cat, she was totally grateful, and said she had a soulmate mark of today’s date on her arm, and by some coincidence, I had the cat birthmark, so we just sort of assumed?” He sighs, rubbing his hands over his face. “I don’t know, Kenma. It all seems to work out, but this is weird, right? I mean, meeting your soulmate at this age? At your own school? It all seems too much like a dream, or something. Like today didn’t really happen. Maybe it’s just hitting me all at once.”_ _

__“...Does that really matter? Didn’t you like her?” He asks, already wanting to cut off his own tongue so he stopped rubbing salt in his own wound._ _

__“...I guess so. I’m not really sure.” He laughs, turning to Kenma. “But hey, I guess I’ll find out when we go on that date later!” and after laying his head on Kenma’s shoulder, he adds, “Thanks, Kenma.”_ _

__“Anytime,” he mumbles._ _

It’s not her, It’s me, He wants to scream. _It’s me. It’s me. It’s me._ But he stays silent.

__~_ _

__After a month of of them dating Kenma has already gotten used to the feeling of having a knife continually being twisted in his gut._ _

__It starts off small, with Kuroo dedicating some of his time after school to her, apologizing to Kenma that he’ll be walking home alone. Kenma doesn’t mind, exactly. It’s not like he hadn't dedicated time to his girlfriends before this. Besides--it’s quiet time Kenma could use to think._ _

A week later he’s dedicating the weekend to her, too. It wouldn’t really bother Kenma--if he wasn’t already used to Kuroo intruding on his home constantly, presently, and literally _all the time_. 

__It leaves his house quiet, and it’s not the good kind. He opens his game and pretends the noise is enough to leave him satisfied._ _

__What’s worse is that it’s not just happening outside of their timetable. It happens in front of him, haunting him at school as well. They walk ahead of him, clutching hands and slowly walking around the school grounds, and Kenma doesn’t even know why he’s supposed to be third wheeling for Kuroo’s peace of mind when he clearly doesn’t need kenma there. It was easier to pretend it wasn’t happening when they went to different school, but now..._ _

__It’s exhausting, to say the least._ _

By three weeks time, Kuroo has dedicated his weekends to her, if not the entire weekdays outside class, and even skipped a volleyball practice due to going on an early date with her. The only times he’s seen Kuroo within the last month are the few moments they share on the court, and the occasional day he visits Kenma’s house again, which was an astonishingly small amount compared to the average time he spent there, which was to say _all the time_ for the most part.

__Even Kenma’s mother comments on it one night at dinner when they’re eating alone._ _

__“It’s kind of quiet without Kuroo-kun around, isn’t it?” his mother laughs, somewhat worriedly, posing a silent question of “ _are you two still getting along?_ ”_ _

“It is,” He says, hearing the bitterness in his own voice. He’s not _angry_ , really, but he takes out whatever emotion he _is_ feeling out on the chunk of meat in front of him, slicing it beyond recognition. He’s obviously noticed the difference in atmosphere without his mother pointing it out, but he suddenly loses his appetite, and retreats early to his room for the night after a few more minutes of the awkward silence hovering in the room. 

__~_ _

__“Hey, How’ve you been?” Kuroo asks one morning, when Kenma’s far too sleepy still to deal with anything without a sour attitude. He shrugs lightly, pulling his psp out of his pocket._ _

“Fine,” He replies curtly. There’s not much to say after that, and Kuroo laughs to avoid the awkward tension Kenma _knows_ he’s sensing as well. 

__“Are you okay?”_ _

__“I’m just tired.”_ _

__“Oh.”_ _

__And their conversation ends with that._ _

Kenma kind of wants to shrivel up, or melt into the floor like he didn’t exist. It would be convenient to avoid these kind of situations like these, but it makes him angry because he’s never had to feel this way with _Kuroo_ before. 

__It’s not even Kuroo’s fault. It’s all Kenma’s ugly emotions throwing themselves into his words, tangling them up until he has nothing left to say. Everything he wants to say is a sarcastic remark or asking about how his girlfriend is doing, and he doesn't want to ruin their already distancing relationship (or just the start of it) with his bad mood or bitter feelings._ _

_You could fix this by just telling him,_ his subconscious tells him, but he only ignores it, scratching at the mark on his hand subconsciously. 

__“...So what have you been up to?”_ _

__“Nothing much,” he replies, hating how much it’s sounding like he’s angry. It’s the truth. He hasn’t done anything worthy of speaking about in a conversation other than playing and finishing countless games without interruption for a few weeks now. He just didn’t want to admit that most of his usual activities revolved around being with Kuroo._ _

__“So how was the date yesterday?” Kenma asks, because that’s the only update he has on Kuroo’s life at the moment. A group text sent out to the volleyball club._ _

__“Oh. Oh! It was really fun! We uh, went to the movies together, and then I walked her home.” With a nod of the head and a small smile, he says, “It was good.” And then that shit-eating smirk is back, and he says “So I assumed you played a bunch of video games this weekend when I wasn’t there?”_ _

__Kenma feels his shoulders relax, because _this_ is what he was used to. This is how he was used to Kuroo being around him. It was so unnatural to see _Kuroo_ of all people not know what to talk to him about, and it just felt… weird. He knows he’s to blame, but he’s glad it didn’t stay the way their conversation started._ _

__He snorts, almost laughing. “Yeah. I finally beat the boss level we both had trouble with.”_ _

Kuroo’s eyes widen. “Wha-- _No way_. You’re going to give me proof later, because I don’t believe you. That level was _stupid_ hard.” 

__“Well, believe it,” Kenma says. “I didn’t play past that part, so you can watch the cutscene and play the next level with me.”_ _

__“Of course,” Kuroo replies, like it was a blasphemy to assume he’d play it on his own._ _

__Things go back to normal, if only for a moment._ _

__~  
“I broke up with her,” Kuroo says one night. The sky is dark and it’s well past Midnight, Kuroo wet and trembling from the cold outside as he pressed himself against Kenma’s back, who jolts at the contact and flips over, game forgotten._ _

__“You what?”_ _

__“I dumped her. She told me she thought it was a mistake--no, she’s sure it was a mistake now. She met one of her old best friends when joining a club on the day she met me, and nothing happened at the time, but they got to know each other again and fell for each other._ _

__“I know she approached me trying to break up with me before starting anything with him, but she was having a hard time, so I made it easy for her.” He shrugs. “I am happy for her. She was fun to hang out with, yeah, but I never felt it click when being with her?” He shakes his head. “I guess I really wasn’t interested in her, in the end. It was just me reying too heavily on a coincidence in our soulmate marks.”_ _

Kenma sighs. _you were definitely into her,_ he thinks, but it’s clear Kuroo wasn’t too head over heels from the tone in his voice alone. When Kuroo was _really_ upset about something, it usually came with a bunch of annoyed afterthoughts until he was eventually cursing their existence while pouting. 

__“I’m Sorry.” Kenma offers._ _

__“You don’t have to be. We parted on good terms.”_ _

__he thinks, opening his arms wide and attempting to ignore Kuroo’s wide eyed stare. He doesn’t make eye contact, but doesn’t close his arms to Kuroo, either. He wasn’t good with words--the best he could do was comfort the other this way instead._ _

__“Are you waiting for an invitation?” He asks, shaking his arms a little._ _

__Kuroo’s eyes light up as he dives into Kenma’s chest, arms curling around his back as Kenma does the same to him._ _

__“You’re feeling awfully touchy tonight.”_ _

__“Would you rather I ignored you when you’re feeling down?”_ _

__“Nah,” Kuroo laughs, tucking his head in further between his head and shoulder._ _

__It’s quiet for a little while and Kenma’s thoughts are spinning. She had found her soulmate, and it was one of her old friends? What did Kuroo think something like that? It was basically reflection of their own situation, not that Kuroo knew about it._ _

__“Hey, Kuroo.”_ _

__“Hm?”_ _

__“Do you think it’s weird to be soulmates with someone you already knew?” He’s probably giving himself away with this alone, and it send his heart thumping quickly in his chest, but what other time could he ask?_ _

__“Hm,” Kuroo ponders, tapping his fingers across Kenma’s lower back. Kenma represses the urge to shiver. “I guess it depends on the scenario? I think it’s weird that her soulmate was a specific date, and not the one she met him on, but maybe it was just representing the day they start to fall in love… or something.” He sighs. “Who really knows? Soulmate marks are so strange and vague. They’re just little clues to lead to the other after all.”_ _

__Kenma hums in approval to his answer, already half asleep._ _

__Kuroo pulls the blanket up higher on them both, and whispers “Goodnight,” In Kenma’s ear before turning around. The warmth of Kuroo’s body beside his only lulling Kenma to sleep further, and a small smile in his voice as he whispers it back._ _

__~_ _

__Kenma knew he would screw up somewhere. It only takes one wrong move to reveal it all. Something small--like leaving his hand unwrapped the night Kuroo stayed over._ _

__“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kuroo asks the next morning, uncapping Kenma’s greatest fear and filling him with lead feelings and anxiety on top._ _

__“I meant to tell you at some point,” He sighs._ _

“ _At some point_ ” Kuroo hisses, somewhat irritated as he stirs his cereal.

__“Well don’t act like it would have been easy for me to suddenly bring that up.” Kenma retorts, feeling his own anger light up under his words._ _

__“It would’ve.” Kuroo spits back in half a second, loud and annoyed. Then, he sighs, and breaths deeply before lowering his voice. It was only nine in the morning, and Kenma’s parents were still upstairs sleeping after all. “I Just wish you told me. Don’t you think we could have stopped a lot of misunderstandings this way?”_ _

“I didn't tell you for that reason. I don’t want you relying on some mark to be with me--I want you to _like_ me, not feel obligated. You dated those girls because you liked them, don’t deny that.” _I wasn’t going to tell you “Oh, hey, I’m your soulmate match,” to stop you from doing so._ He thinks bitterly. 

__It’s the most he’s said in a while, and he tries to disguise his feeling of breathlessness from Kuroo. Kuroo seems to deflate beside him, eyes hurt and looking at Kenma’s hands on the table instead of his eyes._ _

__He’s been prepared for this conversation for a while, probably, without realizing it. He only had to say the facts, after all. There was nothing more to be said in that situation._ _

__“You know I’ve loved you for a long time, right?” Kuroo whispers._ _

__Kenma’s heart stops a little at that._ _

__Kuroo looks up, meeting Kenmas wide eyes with his full of newly found confidence. “I liked you since we were kids. I wanted to know your birthmark because I--” He pauses. “I don’t know why I wanted to know, actually. I had some sort of hope it was possible to be with you, even if the odds were against me. I still wanted to know anyway. I’m a bit of a masochist, I think.” He laughs quietly, humorlessly. Kenma can’t take his eyes off him, something like hope sparking in his chest._ _

Kuroo sighs. “If I knew about this then, I honestly wouldn’t have dated any of them. I didn’t think we were anything more than friends, even if _I_ wanted that, but I didn’t want to complicate things between us.” 

__Kenma fidgets with his hands. “I… didn’t think you felt that way. At all.” Or maybe he did, just convinced himself it wasn't real when he watched Kuroo kiss and hold hands with girls._ _

“So you get it now?” Kuroo asks, grabbing Kenma’s wrist and suddenly holding it up. He points at the mark. Kenma’s eyes follow his pointer finger to back of his hand.. “I’m not here for _this_. I would have been here anyway. I just wish I could have known earlier you felt the same.” He smiles, a little more genuine this time. “I wouldn’t lie about that, you know?” 

__He does._ _

__Kenma sighs, wrapping his Fingers through Kuroo’s. “I’m sorry.”_ _

__Kenma realizes, when Kuroo squeezes his hand, a childishly happy smile pinching at the corner of his mouth, that they might just be okay._ _

__~_ _

__“Why do you think our marks are reversed cat silhouettes?” Kuroo asks one day, interrupting the quiet buzz of commercials on the tv in front of them. They had been watching a movie, wrapped up on the couch in blankets and legs tangled together, huddling for warmth._ _

__“Maybe because we’re lazy,” Kenma jokes, and is rewarded with Kuroo laughing boisterously, vibrations going straight through Kenma. He smiles. “We figured out our relationship in Nekoma. Maybe it’s that?”_ _

__“Hmm, maybe.” Kuroo agrees. “Either way, it’s cute. I like our marks being shown to the world like this--it’s easy to tell who our soulmate is when they look like matching playing cards.”_ _

__“I still have bandages I could use to cover it.”_ _

__“Don’t,” Kuroo groans. “It’s cute. I want to show you off, now that you feel like revealing it.” He seals the words with a light kiss to Kenma’s forehead, and Kenma curls his face into Kuroo’s chest further so he can’t see the red on his face._ _

__“Fine,” Kenma agrees, heart beating wildly at Kuroo’s actions. He didn’t really want to put that thing on ever again, anyway. It was nice showing who he belonged to--so obviously, too. Even the rest of the team could immediately piece it together when they saw the back of his hand._ _

__And he wouldn’t need to hide it ever again._ _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading~ The title is from the song Reflections by Misterwives (They are so **so** good please listen to them)  
>  Going thru a bit of writers' block ahh h this didn't turn out the way i wanted to lol  
> nevertheless, if you liked it please comment or Kudos, I really appreciate it!
> 
> also say hi to me on tumblr --> Tobioandthediamonds.tumblr.com  
> :>


End file.
